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Project Summary
| Difficulty | 5 |
| Time required | Short (several days) |
| Safety | Adult supervision required. |
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| * Note: This is an abbreviated project idea, without notes to start your background research or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated project ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a project idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk. |
Abstract
Do you ever go camping with your family and roast hot dogs and marshmallows over a campfire? If you want your campfire to burn long into the evening, what is the best wood to use? Do research on the necessary conditions/materials to sustain a fire and on the properties of different types of wood. Which properties do you think will be most important for determining how fast the wood burns? For example, how do you think density would be related to burning rate? Why? Measure the density and burning rate of equal-sized samples of different types of wood. For controlled burning conditions, you can either use a torch (with adult supervision) for a specified amount of time (weigh the samples before and after to determine burn rate), or place the wood samples over an evenly-spread bed of white-hot charcoal briquets (time the samples to determine burn rate). (Morgan, 2004; Johansen, 2005; Kelly, 2005)Bibliography
- Johansen, B.R., 2005. "The Flame Game: Which Kind of Wood Burns Faster?" California State Science Fair Project Abstract [accessed April 26, 2006] http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2005/Projects/J1112.pdf.
- Kelly, L.E., 2005. "Does Density Affect a Wood's Combustion Rate?" California State Science Fair Project Abstract [accessed April 26, 2006] http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2005/Projects/J1118.pdf.
- Morgan, D.W., 2004. "Which Wood Burns the Longest?" California State Science Fair Project Abstract [accessed April 26, 2006] http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2004/Projects/J1129.pdf.
Variations
- For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Materials Science Project Ideas.
Last edit date: 2007-06-20 00:00:00
Career Focus
If you like this project, you might want to think about career opportunities in
Materials Science.
You’ve probably heard the expression “build a better mousetrap.” Industrial engineers are the people who figure out how to do things better. They find ways that are smarter, faster, safer, and easier, so that companies become more efficient, productive, and profitable, and employees have work environments that are safer and more rewarding. You might think from their name that industrial engineers just work for big manufacturing companies, but they are employed in a wide range of industries, including the service, entertainment, shipping, and healthcare fields. For example, nobody likes to wait in a long line to get on a roller coaster ride, or to get admitted to the hospital. Industrial engineers tell companies how to shorten these processes. They try to make life and products better—finding ways to do more with less is their motto. Learn more about this career: Industrial Engineer.
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